Aguinaldo waited more than a week before finally getting to Taft, the official representative of the U.S. government. During this period, the Filipino rebels who had been waiting outside Manila couldn't wait any longer, and if it weren't for Aguinaldo's best efforts, I'm afraid that those guys wouldn't be able to wait for a long time and would make some mess. It's really not easy to say Aquinado, because in addition to Aquinado's descendants, the troops on the periphery of Manila have a lot of other tribes' arms, and they came here when they first heard Aguinaldo's talk about entering Manila, and the benefits are great, in general, "I want what I want, and whoever I like is whom".

But who knows, outside Manila, the Spaniards were indeed defeated, but the Americans occupied Manila to the death, just not letting everyone in. Seeing that it has been so many days, the Americans have been in there for so many days, and they are afraid that everything will be removed, and it will be delayed for a few more days, and when they go in, they are afraid that there will be no two hairs left in Manila, so these guys are clamoring to rush into the city. Not only the tribal forces, but even Aguinaldo's own descendants were influenced by this idea and repeatedly asked to enter the city. It took a great deal of effort for Aquinato to quell the changes. If Taft had been a little late, he really didn't know what would have happened.

Knowing that Taaffe had taken off, Aguinaldo naturally hurried to him to see what kind of answer he could give him.

"You say the Philippines is independent?" After Aquinado explained his intentions, Taft seemed surprised.

"Yes, aren't you propagandizing against colonialism?"

"Of course, this is true, but the conditions for your independent statehood are not yet ripe." Taft replied, "First of all, you should know that Spain sold the Philippines to the U.S. government for 20 million. If you want to be independent, you can't let the U.S. government pay these 20 million dollars for you, right? Moreover, the humanitarian tragedies that have occurred before have also proved that you Filipinos lack civilization and are not qualified to establish an independent state for the time being. I believe that the Filipinos, at their current level, are temporarily unable to exercise the power to be the masters of the country, so it is necessary for the United States to lead you to train and teach your people to enlighten the people. So that you can become truly civilized people, and then you can talk about independent and nation-building. In addition, since the war is over, there is one thing that we must deal with immediately. Mr. Aguinaldo, in the midst of war, we lent you some weapons, right? Now that the war is over, it's time for these weapons to be returned to us. And judging from your table Xiàn some time ago, you had better not play around with such a dangerous thing as a weapon. It just so happens that your army is just around the corner from Manila. Just give us back your weapons. Of course we'll let you into Manila......"

The words slammed into Aguinaldo's head like a stick, almost blinding him. He didn't even remember how he had left the place where the Yankee lived, as if he had quarreled with the Yankee, and then he was thrown out, as if he had not dared to say anything, and was sent out like that. But in any case, one thing is certain, and that is that there was once a mountain of gold that seemed to be in front of him, and when he ran over, he found that it had been robbed by another robber. Not even a single gold coin was left for him. Even the robber had to confiscate their guns. Obviously, if the guns are really returned to those Yankees, God knows what will happen. These Caucasians really don't have a good thing!

……

The news brought back by Aguinaldo naturally caused an uproar among the Filipino rebels. No one could have imagined that after fighting for so long and sacrificing so many people, the final result was just a change of master. The Philippines is still the Caucasian, and it is still a slave. Although most of those Filipinos have never learned English, and they don't know the forced saying "free or die", at this point, there is no reason to honestly go back to being a slave. So, it didn't take long for the rebels from all walks of life to form a unified opinion, which was very simple, that is: do it!

While the Filipinos were discussing how to attack Manila, Taft and General MacArthur were also discussing how to eliminate the Filipinos.

"Our goal is to get the Filipinos to rebel. After a long battle with the Spaniards, many of the Filipinos who were more capable and determined had died. And those who are not dead have also come to the fore. These people have the ability and ambition, and as long as they exist, the United States will not be able to rule the Philippines in peace. Even if we reach a compromise with them now, it will only be a hidden danger in the future. Therefore, taking this opportunity to eliminate them is very beneficial for the future rule of the United States in the Philippines. Because any nation, at least for a considerable period of time, there is a limit to the number of people like this. So, after they are eliminated, it will be impossible for the Filipinos to rise up against our rule for at least a few generations. And the Philippines is an archipelago full of dense virgin jungle. This will make it very difficult for us to get rid of the Filipinos. As a result, the Spaniards were never able to completely eliminate those who resisted. Because once defeated, they will flee into the jungle, and then lick their wounds inside, and come out to make trouble. So, General, do you have any thoughts on this state of affairs? "Governor Taft is saying this to General MacArthur.

"Mr. Governor, these people are now concentrated near Manila. Still, to be honest, I have the power to defeat them, but I lack the power to annihilate them. Like you said, they can easily flee into the jungle. My warriors are at all times numbered by ten, but our numbers are too few to prevent them from escaping. So, Mr. Governor, I have such an idea. The Filipinos are not very clear about our fighting power. Although they were friendly with us some time ago, we rarely cooperated with each other. Because the gap between us is too big to match at all. Ignorance can lead to fearlessness, especially when there is an enticing target like Manila ahead. So, I'm going to do that......"

……

The tension between the American army and the Filipino insurgents was finally ignited by a small spark. On April 17, 1898, a group of Filipino soldiers dressed in vintage Spanish military uniforms appeared in front of a camp of the Filipino Insurgents. It was claimed that they had been ordered to come and collect the weapons lent to the Philippine rebels.

The rebel fighters recognized the Filipinos in Spanish uniforms. They are all the so-called "security forces" that were pulled up when the Spaniards were still ruling the Philippines, and what they got is more clear, that is, the Philippine Imperial Army. When they first followed the Spaniards, they saw that the Spaniards seemed to be about to win (before the United States entered the war, the Spaniards had already suppressed most of the rebel army in the Philippines), so they became unscrupulous and did bad things that had no bottom line than the Spaniards. (Since ancient times, a traitor or something like that is worse than a devil is a whole world. World. The passing tradition too. Therefore, when the United States entered the war, as soon as the shape was reversed, these gang of Filipino traitors were immediately dumbfounded. They also knew that if those insurgents were really brought to power, they would all have to die without a place to bury. Fortunately, God forbid, the Americans did not allow the Philippines to become independent, nor even disbanded them, but continued to maintain their establishment, and even replaced some of their weapons so that they could continue to be responsible for maintaining law and order.

On this day, Garcia, the small head of the Manila Security Force, received an order from the Americans, who ordered them to take up arms and go outside the city to collect the weapons of the rebellious Filipinos. Garcia knew that this was definitely a mission to the death, and perhaps the Americans were hoping for it...... But he also understands that if he disobeys, he will only die faster. So he had to take someone to do this task of sending him to death.

Sure enough, after making clear their intentions and demanding that the Filipino rebels surrender their weapons, the fighting broke out. Garcia, who had been prepared and had been hiding behind, immediately ran away. The rebels were chasing after them and were coming towards Manila.

The U.S. forces in charge of defending Manila fired warning shots at the Filipinos, but this did not stop the Filipinos, who continued to advance towards the city of Manila. As a result, the Philippine rebels easily rushed into the city, and only when they were about to reach the core area, did they gradually feel some resistance, and the Americans seemed to have gradually reacted at this time, using machine guns, direct artillery, mortars and directional mines to form a line of defense that did not seem to be very strong. The Filipinos even felt that if they pushed a little harder, they might be able to take Manila directly.

Originally, these Filipinos were still a little afraid of the US military, but now it seems that the US military is just like that. In addition, the battle has already been raging in the front, to paraphrase an American phrase, "the strong wind blowing from the north has clearly brought the sonorous sound of weapons, and our compatriots are already on the battlefield, do we still have to repair our hands and watch." And more importantly, the battle ahead seems to be very smooth, and perhaps with a little more effort, the dream of independent statehood can be realized. As a result, Filipino leaders, including Aguinaldo, made the decision to continue to increase their troops and intensify their offensives. R1058